Scotland Yard said attacker was a white man, about 5ft 8ins tall, with short brown hair with a Scottish accent and tattoos on his neck and left chest.

Scotland Yard released a description of the attacker (Image: Metropolitan Police)

An spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The woman opened the door and the man used his foot to force it to stay open, before entering her property.

"Inside, he assaulted her causing bruising to her face before raping her.

"The man then left the address and the woman alerted the emergency services.

"The victim has described the suspect as a white man, who was about 5ft 8ins tall, with short brown hair.

"He spoke with what was possibly a Scottish accent and had a tattoo or a mark on his neck, and a tattoo on the left side of his chest, which was described as circular.

Detective Inspector Keith Ward, of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Specially trained detectives have been deployed and are supporting the woman whilst she continues to bravely provide the investigation with vital information that could help identify and arrest this man as soon as possible."

Metropolitan Police are searching for the man (Image: Getty)

"Detectives are working around the clock and are carrying out door-to-door enquiries, gathering CCTV and speaking to anyone who was in the area at the time, to see if they saw or heard anything suspicious," he continued.

"We are totally alive to the fact that an incident like this will cause alarm to people living in the area, and I would like to provide as much reassurance as I can that detectives are doing everything we can to arrest the suspect.

"We ask that anyone who recognises the suspect's description contact us as a matter of urgency.

"For anyone worried about doing this, I would reassure them that they will be treated with the utmost sensitivity and there are ways and means that innocent people put to us can be eliminated from our enquiries."